What is an Evangelical?
So this
should be quite a simple article. If the Greek word for evangelical (euaggelion) means gospel or gospeller (Martin
Luther’s term) then if you believe the gospel you’re an evangelical. This means
everyone who is a Christian is an evangelical.
But there
are other ways to understand this term:
* belonging
to or designating the Christian churches that emphasize the teachings and
authority of the Scriptures, especially of the New Testament, in opposition to
the institutional authority of the church itself, and that stress as paramount
the tenet that salvation is achieved by personal conversion to faith in the
atonement of Christ.
*
designating Christians, especially of the late 1970s, eschewing the designation
of fundamentalist but holding to a conservative interpretation of the Bible.
* pertaining
to certain movements in the Protestant churches in the 18th and 19th centuries
that stressed the importance of personal experience of guilt for sin, and of
reconciliation to God through Christ.
* marked by
ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause.
And here’s
where the trouble begins. I may define myself as an evangelical, but you may
disagree with my assessment. Think about
when John MacArthur has refuted Joel Olsteen. Or Mark Driscoll distancing
himself from Brian McClaren. They would all claim to be evangelical, but their
authenticity is called into question.
What I want
to show is that we define evangelicalism either too broadly or too narrowly.
I’m
wondering if there is a way forward.
Why the difference?
There are
two methods that we generally use to define evangelicalism:
1)
Historical and sociological definition
2)
Theological definition
1) Historical and sociological definition
It is
possible to trace the term evangelical back to Tertullian, it really begins
with William Tyndale who commends Anselm for his “evangelical truth”.
The Reformation is the platform from which the evangelical movement begins. The
solas come to provide a framework for what it means to be an evangelical.
The 17th
century saw Puritanism
and Pietism
shape evangelicalism. This saw the movement break with Anglicanism on questions
of church order, but kept the sheer, broad, reformation Protestant inheritance
that stressed more greatly the Calvinist distinctives of the sovereignty of God
in salvation, the apprehension of Christian assurance through the work of the
Holy Spirit, and other Calvinistic emphases from the Reformation.
The European
pietists pioneered the way for the American evangelicals. Their field
preaching, special teaching, preaching
aimed at young people, hymn writing and small groups shaped church life in the
19th century..
The 20th
century saw a threat to evangelicalism. Against modernity came a series of
writings called on The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth. It was also in this context that
Pentecostalism emerged, moving the discussion away from rationalism and
promoted the use of Radio and healing ministries.
The Scopes
Monkey Trial of 1925 produced an anti-intellectual culture that people such as
Carl Henry wanted to distance himself from. Parachurch movements such as Christianity
Today, Fuller Seminary, Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship and Navigators
provided a conservative evangelical theology that distanced itself from Fundamentalism and liberalism.
Into this
context walks Billy Graham who revolutionises evangelicalism. He clear
proclamation of the gospel (an important foundation in evangelicalism) was
matched with Arminian theology and an open ecumenicalism. To follow the
historical sociological approach leads us to John Piper, Joel Olsteen, Rob Bell
and Tim LeHaye.
David Bebbington
proposed that the key elements of evangelicalism are conversionism, the belief that lives need to be changed; activism, the expression of the gospel
in effort; biblicism, a particular
regard for the Bible; and what may be termed crucicentrism, a stress on the sacrifice of
Christ on
the cross. But given the people I mentioned above, I don’t these elements
summarise contemporary evangelicalism.
2) Theological definition
Evangelicalism
is defined by its desire to be true to the gospel.
The aim is to discover Biblical Christianity. John Stott argues
The evangelical faith is not a
peculiar or esoteric version of the Christian faith – it is the Christian
faith. It is not a recent innovation. The evangelical faith is original,
biblical, apostolic Christianity. . . . Our fundamental desire is to be loyal
to the biblical revelation.
Generally speaking, the key elements of
evangelicalism are
The authoritative and normative place of
Scripture
Atonement
Justification by faith alone
Understanding of sin in the life of the
believer
To be frank, this is a clearer definition to
work with.
BUT…
We have been influenced by our sociological
and historical background.
For example the drive for theological purity stems from Puritanism and the
Reformation. The charge that evangelicalism has no ecclesiology is because of
being a movement across denominations (Pietism).
Sociologically, we have mixed theology and
politics. This is not only seen in American politics, be it the Moral Majority or
Bill Hybels and Rick Warren’s connections with the President of the United
States. It’s also seen in the debates about Women’s ordination and the Lord’s
Supper.
If we are to have a theological definition of
evangelicalism, then we must be clear when we have been influenced by history
or current political issues. So I propose that evangelicals are
Clear on revelation, the centrality of the
salvific work of Christ, justification by faith and the need of all humanity to
be redeemed from sin and its impact on our lives. From here, I think we need
robust dialogue that allows for us to study the Scripture for understanding and
allow considering what the Scriptures say.
Now it’s not that radical. But it promotes
ecumenicalism whilst maintaining the word of God as the authoritative rule for
our lives.
The
evangelical faith is not a peculiar or esoteric version of the Christian faith –
it is the Christian faith. It is not a recent innovation. The evangelical faith
is original, biblical, apostolic Christianity. . . . Our fundamental
desire is to be loyal to the biblical revelation.John Stott, Presidential Address to the 1982
Conference of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, quoted in
Timothy Dudley-Smith, ―John Stott: An Introduction,‖ 21, 22.
